sample essay hooks
It allows writers to see how the work is structured better and which points to highlight.
Obviously, this isn’t a recipe or a story about eggs. The writer starts with a very simple, everyday image, and then adds a drop of unpredictability – ‘oppressed’ ones to break the eggs. We call such sentence a fantastic starter and a great hook.
Tone and style of your work mean everything. If you are working on a research paper in physics to offer it to a scientific journal, it is better not to start with a personal childhood story. The hook should be strong and appropriate. If you are writing for a magazine which is less official, the childhood story will sound natural. Evaluate the situation!
“The problem with environmentalists, Lynn Margulis used to say, is that they think conservation has something to do with biological reality.”
(Charles C. Mann, State of the Species).
Starting a piece of writing with an attention grabber is a good approach to securing reader interest. Creating a hook for an essay can involve a question, a surprise, or maybe a quotation creates a desire to read on to see what happens next. Even if all the information in the body of the essay is solid, it’s important to get the reader to that point with a good attention grabber. Starting an essay with an attention grabber ensures that your audience will want to keep reading.
Try these creative hook ideas for essays:
- Start with a question. Asking your readers to think about the topic is a great way to get them ready to hear more. It can be a simple question like, “Could it be?” Or it can be a more complex question like, “Why is it that cats always land on their feet?”
- Use descriptive words. Creating a picture in the reader’s mind can make him or her feel connected to your writing. Use words that describe the scene you’re trying to create. For example, if you’re writing about things you like to do in the winter, you can start with, “Jumping in big, slushy, icy puddles is certainly on my list of favorite things to do in the winter, but nothing tops a snowball fight on a cold, blustery day.”
- Leave it a mystery. Give your readers just enough to make them curious. Include a few details and leave the rest to their imaginations. Try something like, “It was so noisy in our classroom that the walls began to shake. We couldn’t have known what would happen next.”
This is a hook where you begin your essay with a quotation. The quotation could be from a famous person, but it doesn’t have to be. You can quote anyone if it connects to what you’re writing about.
This is an example of a strong statement for the topic of online college classes:
- Ask and Answer a Question
Of course, there is no one formula for how to make a hook. This means that you can use anything from a personal story or quotation to a statistic or big number. It will be your decision what one will fit the format of your essay. You should select one that you think will blend in and make sense.
References:
http://writemyessay4me.org/blog/essay-hook
http://www.time4writing.com/writing-skills/starting-with-a-grabber/
http://www.academicwritingsuccess.com/7-sensational-essay-hooks/
http://edubirdie.com/blog/essay-hooks
http://www.bartleby.com/topics/Technology-and-Education-Essay